Dinner at Corazon

¡HOLA! Come estas? 

Me llamo John Contreras. Vivo en la cuidad de Pasig. Tengo veinte y _____ anos. Estudio en la Universidad de santo Tomas.

We often take for granted the things that are so close to us and sometimes we forget these and take no importance of it.

A little bit of history.

Philippines is a former spanish colony in the far east which was Re-Discovered by Ferdinand Magellan (a Portuguese explorer). Magellan carry the flag of Spain because the Queen and King of Portugal at that time didn't believe that the world is round and so Magellan went to the King and Queen of Spain for blessing. He traveled towards west until he is able to cross the pacific and thus arriving to the shores of Cebu.

"Re-Discovered" 

Historians (Including myself) presented evidences that Philippines before Spaniards arrived have a organized government system, clothing, art, trading system, etc. and at that time, Islam is introduced from the south which spread out in many parts of the archipelago.

Food

Food is also a source of history. It's something that historians and archaeologists take into account aside from text, oral traditions, and visual art. Although it is not common, I like this method especially when I made a paper about the Indigenous People of Ibaloi in the North.

So what thus this means? Sadly many Filipinos do not know the origin of our local food, all we know is adobo, sinigang, dinuguan, and many more. 

Fast forward to the present. Filipino-Spanish cuisine is somewhat hard to find here in Manila, it's always Filipino or Spanish rarely on Filipino-Spanish fusion. 

Corazon (Co-ra-thon) 

corazon means heart in spanish.

My Dad is a food lover as I am he's more adventurous in food tasting than I am. One day, he brought me to Corazon and bragging how good their Paella Valenciana. 

(grabbed from their website)

(grabbed from their website)

Picture this, the resto has that filipino-spanish-mediterranean ambiance and funky artistic visual pieces.

Chorizo Filipino (w/o egg) P 310. Normally I don't like oily and fatty dishes but this chorizo dish is an exception. I like how the chorizo is not salty and chewy. This chorizo is very nice and I would say it's not the usual chorizo that you eat at many restaurants and buy at some grocery stores.

Dessert at Icebergs

Beat the heat with Ice Cream!!

Icebergs is known for it's premium Ice Cream especially their Supreme Halo-Halo

Strawberry Sundae. Creamy strawberry ice cream topped with whipped cream, strawberry, underneath are strawberries and banana with nuts. I love how the whipped cream balances the sweetness of the strawberry syrup, banana and ice cream. (P178)

Strawberry Tower (P220) Banana slices at the bottom followed by Strawberry syrup, thick whipped cream, chocolate ice cream, strawberry syrup, strawberry ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream, and strawberries at the top. It was sinfully blissful! It was sooooo good! I didn't finish the syrup at the bottom since it's too sweet and I might end up having diabetes.

Supreme Halo-Halo. Filipino's pride and all time favorite local dessert which bursts with flavors and sweetness. It contains shaved ice, ube and strawberry ice cream (best combination), corn flakes, corn, jelly, sweet beans, milk, nata de coco, ube halaya, and flan. You have to mixed them all together (Halo-Halo is the tagalog term for mix) so that you can taste all the flavors of the different ingerdients. 

Anthony Bourdain trying the halo-halo

Sarah Jessica Parker trying the Halo-Halo

Lunch at Gerry's Grill

It's been a long time since I was able to eat at Gerry's Grill and as far as I remember, It was good and memorable. 

when I was younger (that was the 90s) not yet a teenager, restaurant-bars that serves Filipino dishes are so popular that many people dine and drink casually at night. Usually, resto-bars are favorite hang out places of many people from young professionals (yuppies) to middle aged people. 

there was a time that the whole stretch of Libis, Quezon City (goolge map it) is alive and full of lights due to the open restaurants at night it was very nice and "new" in the city. 

I was skeptical to eat at Gerry' Grill since I'm afraid that the taste quality would be different-bad. But sometimes you have to taste and see to prove it's worth.

Sizzling Fish (Bangus / Milk Fish P255) I like this fish, it was yummy and soft. I rarely eat fish outside my house since I'm afraid of it's quality and malansa quality. For a long time, I was able to eat fish and it was sizzling the bonus is, the fish is boneless. It was easy to eat :)

Sizzling Garlic Mushroom Chicken. Garlic + Mushroom + Gravy = Heaven. It was sooooooo good! The chicken is cooked right, it was soft, it was savory, and it was so good!

Home Made Real Goodness! Provincial Life! Day 1 & 2 (Holy Week - Maundy Thursday and Good Friday)

Comfort Food!! Home is where the Heart is!

Many of you haven't tried any home made provincial food especially if you grew up in the city. I'm fortunate that I'm able to go to our province and relax to get away from the stressful life of the city. It's always a must for my aunts and my grandmother to cook many local foods that are not found in the city. 

It is always a customary to cook in a clay pot using charcoals. Cooking in a clay pot and charcoals takes a lot of patience because it takes some time unlike stoves. However, cooking in clay pot especially if it is soup based is better and more flavorful than stove.

It's an opportunity for me (working in a bank) to have a 2 days off + weekend = 4 days vacation! it's such a nice opportunity to de-stress!

Halo-Halo. It may not be as fancy as those if Iceberg or Chowking but this home made Halo-Halo taste sooo good! ingredients are all tasty: Ube Halaya, Leche Flan,  Sweetened Bananas, Jelly, Beans, Sweet Jack fruit. On top of that is Crushed Ice and Milk! No need for sugar since ingredients are sweet! Now, once all the ingredients are placed you have to mixed them and savor the cold, sweet, and delicious dessert to beat the summer heat! Cost: P20 / $.48 now that is waaaay cheap!!

Cheese Bread from a local Bakeshop - yellow bread w/ crumbs (P5 / $.12) / Pan de Coco - little brown bread (Bread with coconut filling - P5 / $.12)  / Puto ( P10 / $.24) These local pastries are so good especially during Afternoon Tea / Coffee

My chunky little cousin

Jack Fruit!!!

Plenty of Jack Fruits in our backyard. It was planted with love :)

Fire Ants. They are big! I bet they bite painfully.

Bilimbi / Kamias in tagalog. Very Sour Fruit If you have the tongue for it then this is will approve your liking.

Iloilo Quickie Part 2

Day 2 lunch. Hours before my Uncle's 60th Bday. 

Cabugao Seafood Haus was also nice but not as good as the restaurant we have eaten last day 1. 

Sinigang na Isda (Fish Soup). Filipino soup dish is always sour (I think this can be traced back as early during the colonial era of the country). Sour soup makes your taste bud stimulated.

Talaba / Oysters again. ^_^

Dinner at Kanin Club (Re-Visit) / Dessert at Cab Cafe (Re-Visit)

We were suppose to eat at a new restaurant around Kapitolyo but my cousin wants to eat Filipino Food since she will migrate to the states and surely she will miss our local dish. Sometimes, Filipino Food doesn't surprise me anymore since my mom cooks this kind of dishes all the time but I'm glad many restaurants like 1521, Cafe Juanita, Sentro, etc. revolutionized Filipino dishes and put some modern twists in it.

Sinigang na Hipon. This Sour Shrimp dish with vegetables will surely invigorate your taste buds. The Sour taste, the fresh shrimp, and the crisp vegetables are all a wonderful combination for those people who love Soup.

Seafood Kare-Kare. This dish is hard to cook! My mom doesn't know how and doesn't want to learn since it's very complex. The peanut sauce is really really yummy! I did try to cook kare-kare but my patience in cooking ran out. =)

Crispy Pata / Deep Fried Pork Knuckles. It may look foreign or disgusting to others but I tell you, when you taste this, it's soooooooo yummy! It's also good to partner with beer. 

Afternoon Snack (Merienda) at Cafe Laguna

Cafe Laguna is officially my fave restaurant! they offer variety of Filipino modern cuisine and also traditional cuisines. We arrive at Ayala Terraces Cebu around 4:00pm and want to explore more restaurants to eat. 

We agreed to have a snack at cafe laguna, however Filipino snack foods are quite heavy since most of them are either made from thick bread, rice cake and sometimes rice meal. 

Filipino snacks is very rich in culture and give you a very brief background of post-spanish era of the philippines. 

Coconut Juice in a shell. If you have problems with your Kidneys or unable to urinate, then coconut is your best friend.

Hot Kape Ccino. A Filipino version of Cappuccino, It's smooth and yet the chocolate used was the Tsokolate or a locally made chocolate blend that's mixed with locally made coffee. Best partner with hot pandesal (small bread )

Banana Split with 3 scoops of Ice Cream (Ube or Yam / Chocolate / Strawberry)

Bibingka. Local pancake like snack that is topped with coconut, salted egg, butter, few sugar, and cheese. The dough is sooo fluffy and moist inside. The freshness and the thickness of the dish is so good with the Kape Ccino. It was heaven at that moment.

Hot Pandesal with Kesong Puti (White Cheese). A very locally made dish that is traced back as early as the post-spanish era. Usually it was eaten by various kinds of people from the Indios up to the Illustrados. Naturally, when you made a combination of a Hot Bread with rich and hot cheese inside, for sure it's a blockbuster hit.

By the way, the food costs us only around P400 or &10

1521 Restaurant / Rue Bourbon

My dear friend came back from canada and we were all excited in the office of her return.

on the day she visits us, we head to Fort Burgos Circle for dinner.

it's basically serve same food cuisine with Romulo Cafe, but i think 1521 is much better.

1521 Restaurant serves filipino classic favorite foods.

Talong mo kay Tulfo (Fried eggplant with egg): the dish is very good. it's soft, chewy, and definitely yummy. You can taste the eggplant, and the egg at the same time. add ketchup for best tasting.

Melon Juice: the juice is just plain sad. it's definitely not a fresh fruit, you can taste the artificial flavor in it.

Garlic Rice: the rice was perfect, oh so tasteful and delight. there is added little crunch from the garlic bits. 

Busog na Bangus (Milk fish specie) : the fish was a winner. it was wrapped in foil, grilled, stuffed with onions, tomatoes, and slated egg. The fish was the highlight of the dinner. the fish wasn't flaky which is not a bad thing. it was firm and yet soft upon chew. the flavors of the stuffing really inject to the meat.  add some spicy soy sauce for best tasting.

Bagoong Rice: This rice is definitely a winner. it's a shrimp paste rice, but not necessarily very salty at all, you can taste the soft texture, flavorful of the shrimp paste. Also, the tomatoes, salted egg, and green mangoes added more flavor to the rice. the mixture of the toppings compliments with the rice. the tomatoes and salted egg compliments each other, while the green mangoes which is sour, balances the saltiness of the rice.

Bonggang Bongaang Binagoongan: Deep fried pork cutlets with shrimp paste and green mangoes. I never thought that shrimp paste and green mangoes can go very well with deep fried pork. the saltiness and sourness of the toppings compliments with the little rough and crunchy texture of the pork. a must try. 

Adorableng Adobong Pusit: I don't like adobong pusit at all, but this dish has changed my mind. The squid was so soft and tender, there was nothing rotten in the dish. usually adobong pusit has that foul taste and odor which i hate. But this dish was an exception, I'm willing to try another adobong pusit if the taste and texture of the meat is same with this dish.

RUE BOURBON

We head for come drinks at Rue Bourbon to kill some time and do some catching up.

Menu

Me and My Bombay Sapphire Martini

Stella Atrois (Beer)

Caramel Beer (Yum!)

Romulo Cafe @ Jupiter, Makati

Cerica's despedida. farewell to our dear friend, good luck to your new job! :)

had dinner @ Romulo Cafe, a bit pricey, small serving though, but nonetheless very tasty. 

Kare-Kare (creamy, tasty, you can taste the grounded nuts, the vegetables were not overcooked, meat is tender and easy to chew but be careful with the small strips of meat that will stuck in your teeth.)   

Crispy Pork Knuckles (pork legs and feet part of a pig that is deep fried). the saute'd tomatoes and shrimp paste gives compliment to the deep fried  crispy meat. this is a good dish to partner with beer, and can also be a main course. although, be careful with the high content of cholesterol.

Flying Tilapia with 3 sauce (a specie from the cichlid fish with 3 types of sauce - sweet, hot, sweet hot). sometimes deep fried crispy fish over powers it's true taste. there's a little disappointment because of the thickness of the flour that was used to batter the fish.